CDM Financial Counseling Services Inc. Takes $538,000 Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

CDM Financial Counseling Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,242,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,356,869,000 after purchasing an additional 684,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,179,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,459,940,000 after purchasing an additional 487,069 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,348,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $509,025,000 after purchasing an additional 176,221 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,943,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $447,364,000 after purchasing an additional 153,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,735,106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $415,736,000 after purchasing an additional 104,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple earnings estimates for Yum! Brands, including FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028, signaling improved profit expectations and a potentially stronger forward outlook for the restaurant operator.
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reinforcing its capital-return profile and offering income support for shareholders.
• Positive Sentiment: Yum! Brands’ India franchisee reported stronger operating trends, including a narrower loss and higher profit in FY24, which may suggest solid underlying demand for KFC and related brands in key international markets. Article: Yum Brands’ India franchisee posts narrower loss on KFC sales upswing
• Neutral Sentiment: RestaurantBusiness Online highlighted leadership lessons and brand-building at Yum! Brands, but the piece appears more informational than market-moving. Article: Operator Spotlight – Building Brands Over Time: Leadership Lessons from Yum! Brands
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketWatch noted that Yum! Brands stock underperformed peers, which suggests some near-term relative weakness but does not by itself indicate a major fundamental shift. Article: Yum! Brands Inc. stock underperforms Wednesday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares in a pre-arranged 10b5-1 transaction, a disclosure that can create a modest headwind for sentiment even though it was not a discretionary sale.
• Negative Sentiment: The pizza restaurant sector has been facing cost and demand pressure, highlighted by another chain’s Chapter 11 filing; while not specific to Yum!, it underscores broader industry caution for restaurant investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $150.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $169.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.08.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 20.48%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $177.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Christopher Lee Turner sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.48, for a total transaction of $40,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,359,304.96. The trade was a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 1,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.00, for a total value of $279,224.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,544. The trade was a 34.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,890 shares of company stock valued at $451,123. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.